Podokólne Clearing

Podokólne Clearing, also called Palenica, lies in Jurgów in Bukowina Tatrzańska municipality. A large group of historic sheds and shepherds' huts grows here, forming an open-air museum of pastoralism under the care of the Tatra Museum in Zakopane.

Where the huts came from

The residents of Jurgów used to graze their flocks on the pastures in the Biała Woda Valley, the Jaworowa Valley and the western part of the Belianske Tatras. When these lands, belonging to the Palocsay family, were sold in 1879 to Christian Hohenlohe, a conflict broke out, and at the end of the 19th century the shepherds were driven out of the Tatras. As compensation the municipality of Jurgów received the Podokólne clearing, where farmers brought sheds and huts from about 90 clearings in the Jaworzyna area. Many of them are over a hundred years old.

A summer shepherds' settlement

It is a summer shepherds' settlement, inhabited from spring to autumn, the largest of several preserved in the Tatras and the Podtatrze region, originally comprising about 100 buildings. At present there are 56 huts here, entered in the heritage register in 1978. Most are no longer used, and in some hay is stored.

Practical information

• Location: the Jaworowy Potok valley, about 2 km from the centre of Jurgów, by national road no. 49 from Nowy Targ to Podspady. Opposite is the lower station of the ski lifts with a car park.
• On the other side of the road there is a bacówka (shepherd's hut) where oscypek and bundz cheeses are sold.
• Nearby: the Sołtys Family Farmstead in Jurgów, about 3 km away.